5 Creative Ways to Commemorate the Year

Even if you can’t wait to take on 2019, taking a moment to reflect on the year not only sets you up for success next year, but has a way of enhancing or even shifting your perspective. Take a look at some of the inspiring reflections and year-end projects from the the Spark community and create your own—we’ve come up with six ideas to get you started and six time-saving creative constraints to get you done.

Create your own visual time capsule

This powerful collection of photos from Reuters and Adobe Stock capture major moments that rocked the world. This small, yet mighty, reflection on humanity in 2018 is definitely worth the scroll, but you can also take a page out of Reuters’s newspaper and tell the story of your own community or microcosm. Try selecting just one photo from every month on your camera roll (or Creative Cloud libraries or Lightroom albums, all browsable right in Spark) to give the project helpful constraints. Pair the images with a line of copy that enhances the meaning or provides contextual details. It’s helpful to think like a journalist and answer the five Ws (who, what, where, when, & why) if you don’t know what to write.

Go deep on one milestone

Did something big happen for you this year? Dive in on one major accomplishment or event to mark the moment forever. Here photographer Gareth Pon reflects on moving to a new city with a Spark Page photo story. Consider choosing images that share something in common, such as a vantage point, technique, place, or color scheme.

A year-in-review video is a great way to wrap up your major milestones. Here graphic designer Luke Choice celebrates his first year as a freelancer by pulling some of his greatest projects and moments into a quick social video. Not only does it make for great social media fodder, but it provides an opportunity for him to thank his partners and collaborators, thus helping to pave the way for 2018 progress. Try narrowing the scope of your video to just three points, projects, or milestones to act as your own expert editor.

If a video or photo journal seem overwhelming, a collage of your favorite moments, photos, or people of 2018 is something sweet and fun you can create whenever you can find a few moments of reflection. Use this template and time yourself— what will you remember about the year in 2 minutes?

Though this template works especially well for an athlete, visualizing your year in numbers is an interesting way anyone can mark memories. Steps taken, miles run, words written, sales boosted, friends or connections made—take a moment to quantify what makes sense to you. It could lend a whole new perspective on what you accomplished this year.

Speaking of what you accomplished. Thank you for making 2018 sparkle for us! Here’s a look back at everything you helped create this year.